Curt

This encapsulates how I feel.

I’m on board for it. You can question a couple of his recent moves, but he has over 25 years of GM experience. Instant credibility.

Just a note. Eichel’s NMC kicks in after next season, 2022 offseason, not after this season. So they have a year and a half before then. Although I don’t know if Jack would last that long. They don’t need to rush anything though.

It’s both. Even the best goalie in the world can not win a game in which his team scores zero goals.

They literally are the worst team in the league at ES scoring. That’s not on Hutton. Not that he helps.

I agree that KA probably can’t fire RK. It seems like they have pretty equal standing within the organization. But, if KA feels it’s just not working out, he can probably talk to the Pegulas to encourage them to go in the direction of making a change.

This is sad. I know that I started this thread, but I don’t WANT to trade him. I just feel like they are coming to a point where the team won’t have much choice. If feels like the situation is becoming untenable.

To an extent, I agree. Because Buffalo sentiment can be overblown. However, I could definitely see the upper echelon of coaches turn down the job. Guys such as Gallant, Boudreau, and Julien. These are guys who have been successful NHL coaches for years and don’t necessarily need to take the first job they are offered. They have financial security and a reputation to protect. They don’t need to insert themselves into what they feel could be a bad situation if they don’t want to.

Fair

I think they just got lucky and hired a good GM/coach combo. Before that, they made brutally bad hires for the Bills too.

I think this would be best. Someone to handle the Pegulas, do executive managerial stuff, and advise/oversee on hockey stuff. Someone who can free the GM and coach to focus on hockey without worrying about the Pegulas calling them. Like, you know he isn’t really a soccer coach, right?

I think the idea is that he suffered an injury in training during the offseason that really hampered his ability to prepare for the season. He hasn’t looked right from the very first game, a time when there should have been lots of hope for a good season, so I believe that he has been injured. It just makes too much sense, and it’s been said publicly. At this point, he may be mentally checking out too though.

I don’t think this is true about Jack. Not at all.

Im sorry. I just don’t see this situation turning around and everything being fine in a couple weeks. This is 6 years of disappointment for Eichel. It’s not just going to blow over in a little while, as the team continues to be awful. It just isn’t, unless this team turns it around immediately. I’d like to think that they have next season to show improvement, but I don’t know if they have even that long. I have been optimistic for years, but I just don’t have any left right now.

Nah, he’s just a liar.

Ok ok. Trade it! From my early perspective seems to be missing the couple “can’t miss” forwards up top. For D there is a nice deep pool of quality prospects.

It’s not that weak. No superstar at 1-2 though. If you are picking 5-10 it’s probably normal.

It’s something that the NHL is doing standard across all arenas. It’s not the individual teams doing it. https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-plans-to-deploy-puck-and-player-tracking-technology-in-2019-2020/c-304218820 It was all supposed to be up and running this season, but I’m actually seeing they pulled the pucks early this season because they were having issues. Probably next season it will be in full use. So what was saying probably isn’t true. Next season it will be true though. I’m just ahead of the curve, lol.

Well there is a microchip in the puck now. That will be logging all the data, then they would use a software program to filter the data. The shot type is probably logged manually. The shooter/goalie talent would be based off of readily available statistics.

Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that you are incorrect here. At least some sources use a lot more than shot location to calculate expected goals. They are now starting to use shot location, speed, type (wrist, slap, snap, on-timer, backhand), where the puck traveled from just prior to the shot, as well as now taking shooting and goalie talent into account. It’s getting a lot more sophisticated.

Are shot information based statistics subjective? They have objective criteria for them (location, shot type, speed, where the puck came from just before the shot, etc) and the puck has the microchip in it now, so they should be accurate.

I’m not saying that you are wrong, but can you describe to me how the above scenario would be the best course of action for the Sabres?

All analytics are not created equal. +/- only tells you a fraction of the story, Shot share stats are about the same. Scoring chance and high danger scoring chance numbers are a little better. I think when you start looking at expected goals , it gets more useful, but it’s also tricky because there is no standard calculation for them, so different sources calculate them slightly differently.

The ROR was done with an artificial deadline imposed. I believe that really reduced the return. Which is another reason to consider the Eichel thing sooner than later. His NMC represents another artificial deadline to run up against. I don’t want this team to be reactive in this scenario. They cant just sit pat and wait to see what happens. If they do that, and things go bad, they are going to end up watching Reinhart and Risto walk in UFA, and trading Eichel for $0.40 on the dollar. If they can’t put a good playoff team on the ice next season, they need to think about a mini rebuild sooner rather than later. And I’m all out of faith that this same group is going to be good next season. I’ve seen too many next seasons come and go.

Yes, even if we say that this season is toast. By the start of next season, they need to bring in a 1B level goalie (and resign Ullmark), a middle 6 C to replace Staal, a legit top 6 winger to replace Hall, and they need to fix the offensive creation which may require a coaching change. And these things still may not be enough. If they are not going to get all of that done this offseason at the latest, they may as well just trade Hall, Staal, Eichel, Reinhart, and Risto right now.